HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The Commonwealth’s Board of Transportation Department met with the Department of Rail and Public Transportation Tuesday to learn more about the highly contested third rail and western bypass proposals that would run from Washington D.C. to Richmond

Emily Stock, Manager of Rail Planning for the DRPT, explained that they are following a federal initiative that aims to look at improvement options for a rail that runs along I-95.

According to Stock, a third rail would better accommodate future passenger growth, but residents and officials in Hanover County aren’t on board.

Robert Lindgren, President of Randolph-Macon College, says the third rail would “irreversibly cut” the college’s campus in half.

Ashland Mayor James Foley said that the move would “truly decimate our economy” and that creating a third rail would put the historic buildings in Ashland at risk.